Churches Together in King’s Lynn
Minutes of the AGM held on Wednesday 1st October 2014.
The meeting was opened with a welcome and prayer by Revd Dale Gingrich (Moderator).
Review of the past year:
At the last AGM we listened to a talk about domestic abuse by Natalie Collins who had previously worked for the Christian charity ‘Restore’. In October we circulated the contact details of the hospital chaplain Revd Mark Jones who was appealing for chaplains to register if they could help in case of a major accident in King’s Lynn. In November Revd Keith Ranger gave a very informative talk about Christianity in China entitled ‘Christianity’s best kept Secret – A thriving Church in China.’ Pastor Kevan Crane continued to work hard on developing and maintaining the Foodbank with the support of many schools, churches and local agencies. The number of people fed peaked in April 2014 at 558 and, as expected fell slightly over the summer months. A new larger warehouse was provided and stores of food were moved into this. Satellite Foodbanks were opened in Downham Market, Hunstanton and Hillington Square. A Foodbank manager, Tracy, was appointed in February and is doing well. Mars Ltd, who have previously raised thousands of pounds for the Trussell Trust, have offered Foodbank new premises on the Hardwick Estate and we hope to move into this facility in January 2015.
Chris Lindley researched and wrote a leaflet entitled ‘Benefits changes cause suffering in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk’. Chris spoke about his research at the open meeting in June and his leaflet was widely circulated. The meeting in June was also addressed by John Graver who spoke about the work of Christians Against Poverty. This charity helps people who get into debt by negotiating with their debtors and planning a suitable financial future for the indebted person. Mark and Annemarie Willetts subsequently organised a meeting in July at the Baptist Church with a view to setting up a CAP Debt Centre in King’s Lynn.
In January we organised the 8 prayer services on 8 consecutive days at different denomination churches in King’s Lynn for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity’ and on Good Friday Revd Corin Child organised the ‘Walk of Witness’ which includes Biblical readings and hymn singing at various points round the town. In April Corin handed over the moderator role to Dale.
We are grateful to Andy Moyle for maintaining the website and this enables us to circulate information via email informing church goers about local services, events, charities and projects. The website also contains contact details for all the member churches and their representatives so that communication between churches and their members are facilitated. Andy also organises a list of authors who contribute to the ‘Thought for the Week’ which is published in the Citizen newspaper and on the website. Tony Kendall produces, maintains and distributes a leaflet which details all the church services in the town.
A team, which was initiated by Revd Heather Berry, continues to present ‘Open the Book’ assemblies enabling primary school children to hear the stories of the Bible.
For the future we hope to continue to support charities and find a co-ordinator for the Christian Aid week door to door collections. We may be able to start a CAP debt centre but we will certainly be supporting the poor of the town through Foodbank.
Christian Aid co-ordinator: It was agreed that Revd Zoe Ferguson (revzoe@hotmail.co.uk ), who is curate of St Faith’s church would take over the role of Christian Aid co-ordinator.
Finance: Mike Brown presented the accounts for the past year (see next page). Each church in the group pays a £20 annual subscription to churches together and the reminders have just been sent out. The CROWNS event was due to be supported with £250 but the event had to be cancelled so the money was refunded. The report was accepted by unanimous vote.
Election of officers:
The following officers were proposed, seconded and elected by unanimous vote:
Moderator: Revd Dale Gingrich.
Deputy Moderator: Revd Catherine Dixon.
Secretary: Peter Coates.
Treasurer: Mike Brown.
Members of the executive committee: 4 clergy members are Pastor Kevan Crane, Revd Heather Berry, Tony Kendall and Revd Zoe Ferguson. There are only 3 lay members: Dorothy Kings, Rachel Vyse and Chris Lindley.
It was noted that according to the constitution another lay member could be appointed.
AOB: Daphne Sampson said that she had received and email from Christian Aid about their ‘Hungry for Justice’ campaign which is concentrating on climate change. Linked in with this campaign the Quakers in King’s Lynn will show a film on Sunday 11th January 2015 between 3 and 5.30pm. The film stars Pete Poslethwaite and is called ‘The Age of Stupid’.
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2015 has been agreed except for Thursday 22nd January. Peter had asked Fr Peter Rollings who has said that he probably would not host the event this year but he is waiting for the parish council to discuss this.
Sunday 18th to Sunday 25rd January 2015.
DRAFT
Sunday 18th January: The London Road Methodist Church, King’s Lynn PE30 5PU: Revd. Catherine Dixon: 15.00hrs.
Monday 19th January: St Faith’s Church, Gayton Rd, King’s Lynn PE30 4DZ. Canon Beryl Wood: 12.30-I3.00hrs.
Tuesday 20th January: Salvation Army, Wellesley St, King’s Lynn, PE30 1QD.
Major Barbara Jeffery: 12.30-13.00hrs
Wednesday 21th January: The Sacred Space, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Gayton Rd, King’s Lynn, PE30 4ET. Revd Mark Jones: 12.30-13.00hrs
Thursday 22nd January:
Friday 23th January: All Saints Church, Hillington Square, Church Lane, King’s Lynn PE30 3QA. Fr Adrian Ling: 12.30-13.00hrs.
Saturday 24th January: An ecumenical study day: The Orthodox Way of Prayer at Saint Felix Chapel, Babingley at 09:30–15.30 hrs. Fr Peter Farrington.
Sunday 25th January: King’s Lynn Baptist Church, Wisbech Rd, South Lynn, PE30 5JS; Pastor Kevan Crane: 18.30hrs.